'Amazing Race' Season 19 Contestants and New Twists Revealed

September 01, 2011 05:42:10 GMT

'Survivor' winners Ethan Zohn and Jenna Morasca will team up racing around the world against the other groups of two, while the twists include a double elimination.

After bringing back previous contestants last season, the nineteenth cycle of "The Amazing Race" will feature two familiar faces from another reality show. "Survivor: Africa" winner Ethan Zohn and "Survivor: The Amazon" champ Jenna Morasca, who happen to be a real-life couple, will join forces in the travelling competition.

For Zohn, their participation in the show is a celebration after he survived Hodgkin's lymphoma. "What we have been through the past two years has not been the greatest. To be able to come out on top and then go away and travel the world - it's a celebration," he said, but Morasca called it "a stressful celebration."

The upcoming season also has the youngest person to sail around the world among the cast. Zac Sunderland, who was 17 when he set sail alone in 2009, will team up with his father Laurence. Other contestants with physically-tested body include Olympic snowboarders Andy Finch and Tommy Czeschin, as well as retired NFL player Marcus Pollard who will tag along his wife Amani.

Gushing about the cast ensemble, host Phil Keoghan said, "I'm not sure we've ever had a season like this where there are so many proven athletes." He, however, added, "There is also a lot of effort put forth to make athletes' lives easier so they can perform. But on The Amazing Race all those things are not taken care of. They're not going to eat what they want, sleep when they want - and they are doing it with someone else."

The upcoming installment also offers something fresh by featuring new twists, which are a double elimination and the Hazard, a penalty that one team will incur right at the starting line. For the first time ever, the show will be visiting Belgium, Denmark, Malawi and Indonesia.

"The Amazing Race" 19 will premiere Sunday, September 25 at 8/7c on CBS. The winner will bring home $1 million as the prize.